Border guards advise Ukrainians not to travel to Russia now

Oleh Slobodian, an aide to the SBGS chairman, said this live on the Priamy television channel.

"Although the Russian Federation stated that it would not introduce tit-for-tat measures with respect to Ukrainian citizens, we are seeing that Russian border guards, without providing any explanation, refuse entry to Ukrainian citizens," he said.

Slobodian noted that the SBGS acts within legal framework and hands Russians a copy of documents on refusal to cross the state border. The Russian side simply sends Ukrainian citizens back to Ukraine without giving any explanation and without handing over any documents.

"Given the current situation, we anticipate that this is not the only risk for Ukrainian citizens. Another risk is to come under pressure from Russian special services at the border or after crossing it," he said.

Slobodian noted that given this situation, Head of the State Border Guard Service Petro Tsyhykal had recommended that Ukrainians refrain from traveling to Russia "at least for the period when martial law is in force."

He also said that 680 Russian citizens had been banned from entering Ukraine after the introduction of martial law in certain regions of Ukraine.

op